Band:	Sons Of A Wanted Man
Album:	Kenoma
Style:	Shoegaze, Post-metal
Release date:	February 07, 2020
A review by:	RaduP

01. Kenoma
02. Serpentine
03. Canine Devotion [ft. Isa Holliday]
04. Under A Lightless Sky
05. Absent
06. Amor Fati
07. Pleroma

Most bands would choose the sparse shortest track as their opener and the monumental longest track as their closer. Sons Of A Wanted Man do the exact opposite.

Despite their first release dating back to 2015, Kenoma is actually Sons Of A Wanted Man's first full length, which isn't the first time I've heard a band name their debut like that. Released through Les Acteurs de L'Ombre Productions, this Belgian quintet plays some good ol' post-black. Not necessarily "ol'", since this is a sound that isn't really more than 15 years old, but definitely "good".

While I doubt that all five members are sons of the same wanted man, the six years since the formation of the band, assuming that there weren't too many lineup changes in the meantime, seem to have created a sort of camaraderie between the members, at least in term of how cohesive Kenoma is. This really doesn't feel like the debut of a band still searching for its sound or without sufficient chemistry between the members. The blend of genres on display here is nothing new, but both the post-metal and the black metal parts (as well as the bits of hardcore and shoegaze) feel like they haven't been neglected and they all pack a punch.

There aren't really too many long segments that feel more post-inclined or more black-metal inclined, so the blend is kept quite consistently throughout Kenoma. That may deceivingly make the album sound simple and static, but it's more a testament to the quality of the songwriting and performance at hand that they manage to maintain interest throughout the album's three quarters of an hour. Even so, the songwriting here is not too close to one-dimensional, and even if the harsh vocals sometimes lack a bit of variation (not to accuse them of being one-dimensional), they are often put in contrast with some haunting clean backing ones from guest Isa Holliday.

Kenoma finds Sons Of A Wanted Man with enough years and releases under their belt to make their debut pack a punch with the sound they've crafted, but also with some leftover untapped potential for some even more dynamic and intricate follow-ups.